People with oral communication problems, or those having physical or mental development disabilities, have difficulty in communicating their basic needs or wants to others. In the past, various types of communication aids have been developed to aid a handicapped person in expressing his or her needs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,890 describes a communication aid utilizing a series of pictures or illustrations representing basic needs, and the illustrations are joined together on a ring. By selecting the proper illustration, the handicapped person can communicate his or her needs or wants to others. Devices of this type are helpful for people with communication difficulties, multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders, mental retardation, voice, hearing or visual difficulties, or post operative problems.
Another form of communication aid, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,083, utilized by patients unable to verbally communicate and also unable to move their appendages, is a device in which a series of pictures or illustrations representing the needs of a patient are mounted on a transparent board around a center hole or opening. An attendant, holding the board and looking through the opening, can follow eye movement of the patient to one of the illustrations on the board to thereby determine the need of the patient.
Another type of communication aid is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,633, which has particular use for handicapped persons who have movement of their arms or legs but are unable to verbally communicate. In this device a pointer is mounted for rotation on a generally flat surface of a housing and a series of pictures or illustrations, representing basic needs, are positioned on the housing surface. By depressing a push button on the housing the pointer is rotated and brought into registry with one of the illustrations on the housing to represent the need of the patient.